


A Night Out

by lilly_the_kid



Series: Before Blackwater [3]
Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Cowboys, Dancing, Drunk Sex, Emotional Sex, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Light Angst, M/M, Pining, Western
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 01:56:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29288694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilly_the_kid/pseuds/lilly_the_kid
Summary: This was the best kind of attention Dutch had to offer. Attention and affection with the implied promise of something more. And with no strings attached. Something Dutch would offer when he wanted to. And something Arthur was more than willing to take whenever he could.Takes place before the game. You don't need to read the other works in this series for this to make sense.
Relationships: Arthur Morgan/Dutch van der Linde
Series: Before Blackwater [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2147766
Comments: 4
Kudos: 29





	A Night Out

**Author's Note:**

> In my current playthrough after Sean's rescue Arthur ended up dancing with Mary-Beth while Dutch was dancing with Molly in the background. That inspired me to write this.

"I remember that, I do." Dutch was laughing and finishing his whiskey. "You want another?" He took the bottle and looked at Arthur. 

Arthur nodded and held out his glass. The bottle they'd bought was already half empty and he felt good. It was just Dutch and him out and about after a successful little robbery where nothing bad had happened. Reason enough to celebrate. 

The saloon was loud, but the mood wasn't aggressive or violent. Just a bunch of people having a good time. There was music playing and for the first time in a long while Arthur felt at ease and as close to happy as he knew.

He took another drink and carefully extended his leg, nudging Dutch under the table. Dutch looked at him and smiled. He didn't pull his leg away, but he didn't do anything else either. He looked around for a moment. When he had seemed to find what he was looking for he turned back around to Arthur. 

"You wanna dance?"

Arthur stared at him, for a moment thinking that Dutch had either lost his mind or was a lot more drunk than he seemed. 

"What?" That was all he managed to say.

Dutch smirked. He pointed across the room to two women who were looking back in their direction. One had dark hair, the other one was blonde. Arthur smiled.

"You sure about this?"

"Why not? Two gentlemen dancing with two beautiful ladies, not really that unusual, is it?"

"Alright." Arthur finished his drink and Dutch waved the women over. 

"Well, hello there, gentlemen."

"Good evening, ladies." Dutch got up and held out his hand. "Aiden O'Malley." He pointed at Arthur. "This is my good friend Arthur Callahan. Pleased to make your aquaintance. Would you care for a dance?"

"We'd be delighted, Mr. O'Malley. I'm Rosa." The blonde woman took Dutch's hand. 

"I'm Jane," the other woman said and held out her hand. 

"My pleasure." Arthur took her hand and they walked to the middle of the saloon. They started dancing and Arthur saw Dutch and Rosa doing the same out of the corner of this eye. Dutch made sure to stay in Arthur's line of sight, glancing at him ever so quickly. Arthur smiled. 

He enjoyed the warmth of Jane, being close to her, joking with her, seeing her laugh. But with every look from Dutch he wished that he could be dancing with him. Holding him. Smelling him. 

The whiskey made him feel light and relaxed and it made it easy to imagine Dutch's hand in his. Dutch's hand on his shoulder. Dutch's body close enough to his own that he could feel the heat coming of it. And Dutch smiling at him, joking with him, looking at him with promise of more in his eyes. He imagined himself moving forward just a bit and meeting Dutch's lips, moving to the music while they kissed. 

Arthur knew that this was as close as he would ever get to that and he knew that Dutch knew it, too. And it felt like not enough and too much at the same time. He had no idea how long they were dancing, time had no meaning. He was lost in this dream of him and Dutch being together in a way they never truly could be.

Then there was a shift in the music and Arthur noticed the saloon getting more and more crowded. There wasn't really any more room to dance. He let go of Jane and smiled at her. They walked over to their table where Dutch and Rosa were also sitting down. 

"Ladies, what'll it be?"

They had some drinks together and talked some more. Arthur noticed that Dutch was in an exceptionally good mood. And every so often he looked over at Arthur in a way that made his stomach feel all warm and twisted. In the best possible way. Moments like this were rare. Not just having pulled off a successful job and being relatively safe for the time being. But Dutch being affectionate. That was the rarest thing. 

Oh, he could be charming and friendly and most of the time Arthur would consider him his best friend for whom he would gladly die. And he was sure Dutch would do the same for him. But sometimes the friendliness came with a price. It came in exchange for agreeing to a particularly dangerous job. Or as a reward. But this was the best kind of attention Dutch had to offer. Attention and affection with the implied promise of something more. And with no strings attached. Something Dutch would offer when he wanted to. And something Arthur was more than willing to take whenever he could.

"It's getting late, ladies and I'm afraid my friend and I have an early train to catch tomorrow." Dutch was looking at Arthur while he talked and Arthur had a hard time suppressing a laugh. 

He cleared his throat.

"That's right. Thank you for a wonderful evening." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bill fold.

"Please, buy yourselves some more drinks and have a pleasant night." 

Jane caught his eye when he handed over the money and there was a slight smile on her face. She looked over at Rosa and something passed between them. She looked back at Arthur.

"Why, thank you, Mr. Callahan." She nooded at Dutch. "Mr. O'Malley." 

As they got up Rosa ran her hand over Dutch's shoulder and whispered. "You two have a pleasant night as well." She winked at Arthur and she and Jane walked over to the bar.

"An early train, huh?" Arthur took another swig of whiskey.

"Well, of course. And I think it's about time we went to bed." Dutch looked at Arthur and finished his drink. Arthur did the same.

"Whatever you say."

"Go ahead. I'll get us a room. Wait upstairs."

Arthur was leaning against the banister, a cigarette in his hand. He was pretty drunk and enjoyed the light feeling in his head. The hallway was empty at the moment which was a good thing. It wasn't often they took risks like this. 

He watched Dutch walking up the stairs. He looked quite drunk. It wasn't really all that noticeable, but Arthur knew him. He knew how Dutch looked when he was sober and he knew how he looked when he was trying to appear sober. And he knew that look that Dutch was giving him right now.

"There you are," Arthur said and took another drag. "Point the way."

Dutch looked around, then he he grabbed Arthur's vest and dragged him along.

"Ow, what are you doing?" Arthur didn't really mind, though. This was going to be fun. 

Dutch opened the door and pushed Arthur into the room. Then he locked the door and dropped the keys on the nightstand.

Arthur crushed out his cigarette and took a step forward. Dutch grabbed him again and shoved him backwards towards the bed. There he pushed him down. The sudden movement made Arthur's head spin for a bit.

"Careful, or this will be over before it starts." Arthur pushed himself up to his elbows.

"It'd better not be," Dutch said as opened up his vest and shirt. He climbed onto the bed and straddled Arthur. "You up for this, cowboy?"

Arthur smirked. "I think you know," he said. He pulled Dutch down into a kiss. 

They got rid of their clothes quickly, the alcohol making it all seem like a haze. They'd done this many times before and every movement fell into place. Once Arthur felt Dutch inside him he closed his eyes for a moment, allowing his body and his mind to adjust. 

Dutch leaned forward and kissed him and Arthur reached up, one hand on Dutch's shoulder and the other found Dutch's hand, entwining their fingers. He could hear the faint music from the saloon and was finally able to enjoy the dance with his partner of choice.

\-----------

The next morning Arthur woke up to fingers combing through his hair. He opened his eyes. The sun was already up, but judging by the light it was still early. He sat up and turned around. 

Dutch was already dressed. He sat on the bed, holding Arthur's shirt.

"Good morning."

"Good morning." Artuhr moved carefully and was relieved to find that he didn't seem to have a hangover. He took the shirt.

"We should get going." Dutch got up and walked over to the door. "I'll wait for you downstairs." He started to open the door.

"Dutch?" Dutch closed the door again and turned around.

"What?" He looked unsure. He somehow always did. After. Arthur didn't know why. They'd done this before and always enjoyed it. And this time had been no exception.

"Thanks for a lovely night out," he said jokingly, giving Dutch the chance to laugh it of. 

Dutch didn't do that, though. There was genuine warmth in his voice.

"Well, it's been my pleasure." He smiled and walked out the door.

\-----------


End file.
